The Sun and the Moon (BL)

Chapter 5

Life didn't always go according to plan. Naruto was very much aware of this, yet he wasn't quite expecting it this time around. Not only did he find himself buried in large amounts of work, but he also had rehabilitation to attend to in his spare time. At the end of the long winter days, he had no energy left to move, never mind the will to socialise.

If Sasuke was there, he'd definitely mock Naruto for that.

Naruto? Too tired to socialise?

Naruto could almost hear Sasuke's signature mocking grunt followed by that cocky smile of his. Thankfully, that bastard wasn't here to witness the state that Naruto found himself in. While it was not a bad one – at least he did not see it as such – it was very much unlike his normal self and Naruto hated when people asked him questions.

With Shikamaru gone for a mission, Naruto had to take over some of his paperwork. Unlike him, Shikamaru didn't even have time to go out for missions, and Naruto definitely felt the pain. Even though Shikamaru's assistant, Yurito, was doing part of the work, it was not enough.

"Yurito, where are the mission reports from last night?" Naruto question Yurito, there were stacks of documents, reports, proposals, shinobi profiles, mission requests and who knows what else littered around the office. The piles on the desk nearly blocked Naruto's view of the door he was supposed to be facing.

Yurito did not hold the prior experience of doing desk work, but he was already familiar enough with how Shikamaru organised it all. Recently having graduated from the academy, he was obviously excited about the whole becoming shinobi ordeal but unfortunately, he was needed in the office. It just so happened that Yurito became a temporary aid to Shikamaru.

"Senpai, I'm going for my break! I'll be back." The enthusiasm seeped out of him in waves. Naruto enjoyed the other's company, he was a talkative fellow, similar to Naruto. Some would call his enthusiasm as naïve as Naruto's once was, but Naruto considered it to be the aid's greatest strength. Naturally, Naruto has never seen Yurito fight, so he had no idea about his true strength.

Yurito would often talk about his academy days, his classmates, and friends and as such, they were stories that Naruto greatly enjoyed hearing. In turn, Yurito would ask for Naruto's stories of his Genin and academy days.

Naruto gladly recounted those days when he was a mere 11-year-old who, in hindsight, survival was a miracle in itself. It could very well be because of his stupid luck, as so many others would phrase it, but Naruto thought there was more to it than sheer luck. Although he was unable to come up with a viable conclusion, he was still proud of his younger self who managed to surpass all of the obstacles that crossed him.

Reading was never Naruto's strongest suit. He hated it even at the academy, he passed the written Chunin exam by not writing anything, when he was travelling with Jiraya the only times he read anything was when the old Sennin wanted Naruto to check over his work, and even that wasn't often. The reason for this was simple. Reading made him sleepy.

Sitting alone, reading the complicated paperwork in silence did not help the sleep-deprived shinobi. He struggled with sleep enough as it was, but it only got worse with time as Naruto's fear grew. He was scared of falling asleep, especially in the dark where he was afraid of the phantoms hiding in the shadows. This only grew in intensity with the passage of time. The result was that he only allowed himself to fall asleep when it was bright enough outside, after which he only ever got a few measly hours of sleep, leading to his current sleep deprivation.

With it still being somewhat light outside, Naruto felt relaxed. Not enough to let him fall asleep, but enough to not feel the chills creep upon him.